Prerequisites: Enrollment in Honors Program, completion of all other Honors Program requirements, a minimum 3.5 GPA in all courses and in Geology.

To earn a bachelor's degree with honors in Geology, a student must conduct research and write a thesis based on the research. In order to receive honors credit, a student must earn a grade of "A" or "B" for the final project. Course may not be repeated.

Detailed Description of Content of Course

The content of the course will vary with each student. The student will conduct research under the supervision of a faculty member in geology. Research may include: field studies, laboratory analysis, and literature review. All final projects must be approved by the Department and the Honors Council.

Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

The student and the faculty supervisor meet initially to set goals and strategies for conducting the research. Regularly scheduled meetings will be held during the course of the project to evaluate the progress of the research. The student will write a thesis summarizing the goals, purpose, methods, and findings. This thesis will be evaluated by the faculty supervisor.

Goals and Objectives of Course

Specific student outcomes will vary with the interests of the student and subject matter of the thesis. In general, the goals are:

1. Students will demonstrate a mastery of the knowledge concerning the topic of study.
2. Students will use knowledge gained from their previous course work towards original research that they carried out.
3. Students will gain experience in collecting data, and in synthesizing the data in order to draw conclusions.
4. Students will demonstrate skills in the use of the geologic literature and in the writing of a proper scientific paper.

Assessment Measures

The faculty supervisor of the final project will be responsible for evaluating the success of the project.